Page 1645 - Week 06 - Thursday, 13 August 1992
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MR HUMPHRIES: Do not jest about this. We have raised points about the legislation, which you yourselves have conceded are good points, only by thorough scrutiny of this legislation. You, Mr Connolly, described a point we made on Tuesday about fishing as twaddle, to quote from page 114 of the draft Hansard. You have now conceded that we have a point and you are going to amend the legislation. Mr Lamont said about the same point:
That is such a long bow that not even you could carry the arrow.
Mr Lamont: True.
MR HUMPHRIES: No, Mr Lamont, it is not true. The fact is that it is not such a long bow after all. It is not twaddle, and you know it, because you are amending the legislation. That is basically the product of the careful scrutiny we have had to give the Bill since the legislation was debated in principle. That is why it was not raised during that stage.
Why was not a select committee created five or six weeks ago to refer this to? The answer again is very simple. Up until the death knell of the last sitting, it was still assumed that we were going to debate the Animal Welfare Bill to completion. It was not clear until the very last minute that we would not be doing that; that in fact it would be adjourned until the following session, namely, this session. That is why it did not happen.
Madam Speaker, this is a dangerous piece of procedure. If we do not have those codes of practice in place, then we have a real problem of creating unnecessarily harsh law which we cannot mitigate in any way, except by creation of those codes. The Minister might say, "I have been advised that some of the codes will be available by the time that the Bill is gazetted". Even if that is the case, even if that advice has been received - - -
Mr Wood: So you realise what the process is, but you have not admitted it until this moment.
MR HUMPHRIES: No, I have not denied it. I accept that your administration is working very hard.
Mr Wood: So you have been running a line. Now you know what is going to be said to you.
MADAM SPEAKER: Order!
MR HUMPHRIES: I accept that the Minister's department is working very hard to get those codes of practice in place, but I also accept that the people in his department are fallible and they are capable of encountering delays they do not anticipate. If that is the case, then we expose members of the community who deal with animals to very harsh penalties. We also expose them to penalties that might be initiated not by officers of his department or police, but by individuals who launch private prosecutions based on this legislation. Mr Lamont, I am sure, knows some individuals who might like to launch private prosecutions based on legislation that has been put forward.
Mr Connolly: And the DPP will take them over, as is the case with private prosecutions.
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